Dominican-American actress Zoe Saldana is set to portray the High Priestess of Soul, Nina Simone, in an upcoming biopic. There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding the non-Black film director’s decision to cast Saldana as Simone. The backlash stems from many peoples’ views that there’s a bevy of Black actresses who would be better suited for the role, such as, Academy Award nominee Viola Davis, 12 Years a Slave’s Adepero Oduye or even Neo Soul songstress India.Arie – who slightly resembles the jazz great.

Many point out that Zoe does not resemble Nina – even a little bit – and the makeup applied for the role has her looking more like a blackface caricature. Perhaps Zoe was chosen, because she is considered a mainstream actress and therefore may be more bankable. What are your thoughts?